In Okinawa, 1000-hp outlaw racers rule the streets at night

Go undercover and see the illegal racing scene in this video.

Here in the US, cheap, open-format drag racing events organized in cooperation with law enforcement agencies have brought many would-be street racers to the controlled environment of the drag strip. Unfortunately, it's different in Okinawa.

This recent video from VICE Japan takes a look at the street-racing scene on the island of Okinawa, where high-strung, not-quite-street-legal 1000-hp cars go racing in rural areas. Eikichi Nagayoshi is the focus of the video, and he's a bit of a legend in Okinawa's racing scene. He has a day job as a used-car dealer, but at night, he breaks out his 2JZ-powered Toyota Aristo (a first-generation Lexus GS300 to you and me) for some less-than-legal nocturnal activities.

Eikichi and the other guys profiled in the video put an enormous amount of time and energy into their cars, but because many of the racetracks and drag strips on Okinawa have recently been shut down, they don't have anywhere to race legally. It's hard to know whether to sympathize or demand they be thrown in jail, but either way, it's fascinating.

Most Popular

Pro tip: Unless you speak Japanese, you'll probably want to turn on YouTube's English subtitles for this one.